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Matt Hughes

Inactive · age 52 · Switch · 5'9" 175 cm · 170 lb 77 kg · reach 73" 185 cm
At a glance
  • 8 successful title defenses
  • KO of the Night in last fight
  • Earned a bonus in 4 of last 5 fights
  • 72% of wins by KO or submission
Elo rating
1572
Global Elo 1623 ±39
Rank
—
—
UFC record
18-7-0
KO 6 · Sub 5 · Dec 5
Streak
-2
Δ90d -20 · Δ1y -20
Last fight
Sep 24, 2011
Loss by KO · R1
Career at a glance
Octagon time
3h 43m
Avg fight time
8:56
Title fights
9-3
Bonuses
5
Fights per year
2.1
Ground control
1h 58m
Since last fight
14y 9mo

Honest Elo history

25 fights · tap & drag
Sep 24, 1999 — W vs Valeri Ignatov Δ+26Jun 9, 2000 — W vs Marcelo Aguiar Δ+27Dec 16, 2000 — L vs Dennis Hallman Δ-38Nov 2, 2001 — W vs Carlos Newton Δ+47Mar 22, 2002 — W vs Hayato Sakurai Δ+34Jul 13, 2002 — W vs Carlos Newton Δ+18Nov 22, 2002 — W vs Gil Castillo Δ+13Apr 25, 2003 — W vs Sean Sherk Δ+18Nov 21, 2003 — W vs Frank Trigg Δ+14Jan 31, 2004 — L vs BJ Penn Δ-27Jun 19, 2004 — W vs Renato Verissimo Δ+11Oct 22, 2004 — W vs Georges St-Pierre Δ+18Apr 16, 2005 — W vs Frank Trigg Δ+16Nov 19, 2005 — W vs Joe Riggs Δ+11May 27, 2006 — W vs Royce Gracie Δ+19Sep 23, 2006 — W vs BJ Penn Δ+17Nov 18, 2006 — L vs Georges St-Pierre Δ-30Mar 3, 2007 — W vs Chris Lytle Δ+6Dec 29, 2007 — L vs Georges St-Pierre Δ-27Jun 7, 2008 — L vs Thiago Alves Δ-22May 23, 2009 — W vs Matt Serra Δ+11Apr 10, 2010 — W vs Renzo Gracie Δ+10Aug 7, 2010 — W vs Ricardo Almeida Δ+13Nov 20, 2010 — L vs BJ Penn Δ-21Sep 24, 2011 — L vs Josh Koscheck Δ-20 1400145015001550160016501700 200120032005200720092011 [{"i":0,"x":90,"y":351.1,"elo":1455,"date":"1999-09-24","opp":"Valeri Ignatov","result":"W","delta":26},{"i":1,"x":132.5,"y":322.7,"elo":1482,"date":"2000-06-09","opp":"Marcelo Aguiar","result":"W","delta":27},{"i":2,"x":163.8,"y":363.4,"elo":1444,"date":"2000-12-16","opp":"Dennis Hallman","result":"L","delta":-38},{"i":3,"x":216.5,"y":313,"elo":1491,"date":"2001-11-02","opp":"Carlos Newton","result":"W","delta":47},{"i":4,"x":239.5,"y":276.7,"elo":1525,"date":"2002-03-22","opp":"Hayato Sakurai","result":"W","delta":34},{"i":5,"x":258,"y":257.7,"elo":1543,"date":"2002-07-13","opp":"Carlos Newton","result":"W","delta":18},{"i":6,"x":279.7,"y":243.4,"elo":1556,"date":"2002-11-22","opp":"Gil Castillo","result":"W","delta":13},{"i":7,"x":305,"y":224.6,"elo":1574,"date":"2003-04-25","opp":"Sean Sherk","result":"W","delta":18},{"i":8,"x":339.5,"y":209.7,"elo":1588,"date":"2003-11-21","opp":"Frank Trigg","result":"W","delta":14},{"i":9,"x":351.2,"y":238.6,"elo":1561,"date":"2004-01-31","opp":"BJ Penn","result":"L","delta":-27},{"i":10,"x":374.2,"y":226.3,"elo":1572,"date":"2004-06-19","opp":"Renato Verissimo","result":"W","delta":11},{"i":11,"x":394.7,"y":207.4,"elo":1590,"date":"2004-10-22","opp":"Georges St-Pierre","result":"W","delta":18},{"i":12,"x":423.6,"y":190.9,"elo":1605,"date":"2005-04-16","opp":"Frank Trigg","result":"W","delta":16},{"i":13,"x":459.3,"y":179.2,"elo":1616,"date":"2005-11-19","opp":"Joe Riggs","result":"W","delta":11},{"i":14,"x":490.3,"y":159.4,"elo":1635,"date":"2006-05-27","opp":"Royce Gracie","result":"W","delta":19},{"i":15,"x":509.9,"y":141.6,"elo":1652,"date":"2006-09-23","opp":"BJ Penn","result":"W","delta":17},{"i":16,"x":519.1,"y":173.3,"elo":1622,"date":"2006-11-18","opp":"Georges St-Pierre","result":"L","delta":-30},{"i":17,"x":536.3,"y":166.5,"elo":1628,"date":"2007-03-03","opp":"Chris Lytle","result":"W","delta":6},{"i":18,"x":585.8,"y":195.6,"elo":1601,"date":"2007-12-29","opp":"Georges St-Pierre","result":"L","delta":-27},{"i":19,"x":612.2,"y":219.3,"elo":1579,"date":"2008-06-07","opp":"Thiago Alves","result":"L","delta":-22},{"i":20,"x":669.7,"y":207.8,"elo":1590,"date":"2009-05-23","opp":"Matt Serra","result":"W","delta":11},{"i":21,"x":722.6,"y":196.6,"elo":1600,"date":"2010-04-10","opp":"Renzo Gracie","result":"W","delta":10},{"i":22,"x":742.2,"y":183,"elo":1613,"date":"2010-08-07","opp":"Ricardo Almeida","result":"W","delta":13},{"i":23,"x":759.4,"y":205.4,"elo":1592,"date":"2010-11-20","opp":"BJ Penn","result":"L","delta":-21},{"i":24,"x":810,"y":226.7,"elo":1572,"date":"2011-09-24","opp":"Josh Koscheck","result":"L","delta":-20}]

Last fights

Elo-based expectation · not betting advice
Date Opponent Result Δ Elo
Sep 24, 2011 Josh Koscheck L -20
Nov 20, 2010 BJ Penn L -21
Aug 7, 2010 Ricardo Almeida W +13
Apr 10, 2010 Renzo Gracie W +10
May 23, 2009 Matt Serra W +11

Performance

SLpM Significant Strikes Landed per Minute. Higher = busier striker.
Strikes Landed
L1L3L5
Str Acc Striking accuracy: significant strikes landed / attempted. Higher = more efficient striker.
Strike Accuracy
L1L3L5
SApM Significant Strikes Absorbed per Minute. How often opponents land on this fighter. Lower is better.
Strikes Absorbed
L1L3L5
Str Def Share of opponent’s significant strike attempts that miss or are blocked. Higher is better.
Striking Defense
L1L3L5
TD / 15 min Takedowns landed per 15 minutes (one full 3-round fight). Measures wrestling output.
Takedowns
L1L3L5
TD Acc Takedowns landed / attempted. Higher = cleaner entries.
Takedown Accuracy
L1L3L5
TD Def Share of opponent takedown attempts stuffed. Higher = harder to put on the mat.
Takedown Defense
L1L3L5
Sub / 15 min Submission attempts per 15 minutes. Counts attempts, not just finishes — a proxy for grappling aggression.
Submission Attempts
L1L3L5
Ctrl / 15 min Control time in seconds per 15 minutes. Time in dominant grappling positions. 240 = 4 min, the realistic high-end across divisions.
Control Time (sec)
L1L3L5
KD / 15 min Knockdowns landed per 15 minutes. Counts every flash KD even if the fight continued — measures stopping power across all rounds, not just finishes.
Knockdowns
L1L3L5
Above division avg (intensity ∝ how far)
Near avg (±10%)
Below division avg

Finishes

How wins come Finish rate = (KO + Submission wins) / total UFC wins. Measures how often this fighter closes the show before the scorecards.
61%
11 / 18
Finish rate
KO
6
33% of wins
SUB
5
28% of wins
DEC
5
28% of wins
KO: 6 (38%) 6 Sub: 5 (31%) 5 Dec: 5 (31%) 5
Finishes by round
13 total
R1
8 62%
R2
1 8%
R3
2 15%
R4
2 15%
R5

Striking profile

Where significant strikes land — by target zone and by position. 531 landed total · career

Targets head · body · leg
69% Head
  • Head 69%
  • Body 22%
  • Leg 9%
Positions distance · clinch · ground
63% Ground
  • Distance 29%
  • Clinch 9%
  • Ground 63%

Durability

How they're beaten How fights end AGAINST this fighter. Finished-against rate = (times KO'd + submitted) / total UFC losses. A low rate means they rarely get stopped.
100%
of losses by finish
7 of 7 · usually R1
4 KO/TKO 3 Sub 0 Dec

Strength of schedule in UFC

Avg opp Elo (last 5) Average Elo rating of the last 5 opponents this fighter faced. A proxy for schedule difficulty — 1700+ is elite-level competition, 1500 is a UFC average opponent.
1572
UFC level
Quality wins (1600+) Wins over opponents rated 1600+ Elo at the time of the fight — clearly above the ~1500 UFC average, contender tier. A count of genuine quality results, not record-padding.
2
of 18 UFC wins
Toughest win The highest-rated opponent this fighter has a win over, by that opponent's Elo at fight time.
Royce Gracie
Elo 1689 at fight time
Expected wins How many wins an average fighter would be expected to have against this exact schedule, based on pre-fight Elo win probabilities. The line below shows whether this fighter is over- or under-performing their matchups.
15.3
+2.7 wins above what this schedule implies
Opponent Elo over career · 25 UFC fights, oldest → newest
1470
1633
Notable wins
Royce Gracie 1689 BJ Penn 1607

Top welterweight

See full rankings →
Islam Makhachev C
#1 · Elo 1802
Kamaru Usman
#2 · Elo 1691
Shavkat Rakhmonov
#3 · Elo 1679
Michael Morales
#4 · Elo 1671
Ian Machado Garry
#5 · Elo 1669
Source Raw fight data and per-bout statistics come from Matt Hughes on UFCStats →. Elo rating, uncertainty bands, and division-relative analytics computed by HonestElo — not affiliated with or endorsed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship.